ORIGIN

1975 Peugeot 504 Cabriolet V6

This 1975 Peugeot Cabriolet V6 was restored in Switzerland in 2009 and is a LHD car with our favorite alloy wheels for this model. The blue is perfect for the body style and the seller says that only 900 of these were made, with only a fraction of those getting this engine instead of the base 4-cylinder. Find it here on eBay in Glouchestershire, England for 29,999 GBP (today ~$49k USD).

Be carefull dealing with Curt Orbie in Belgium .There are messages on the internet saying “don’t deal with this guy” and stories of being ripped off. Its a pity because he seems to have all the parts you could need

My point was not about the price of this car, but the fact that the some dope installed a modern stereo and speakers. To my mind that ruins a collector car’s value. I’m being a bit sarcastic to suggest knocking 20 thou off for it though.

Question: What’s the sweetest sound in the world?

Answer: the sound of a modern Blaupunkt or Alpine stereo hitting the inside of a dumpster.

@Gordini, agree wholeheartedly — Dino Spiders have crept up in value quite a bit (though they haven’t been on a tear like their Ferrari cousins) and would likely cost 2x. And the points you make about maintenance on the Dino is the primary reason I haven’t yet pulled the trigger on one. But you could make a similar argument that a really nice Fiat Spider costs half the price of the 504 and repairs on the Fiat engine would be half as much, as well as pretty much any other parts. So maybe the best bet is to split the difference and forget the two Fiats and buy one of these. But I already own a Fiat Spider, so I would still have to stretch the budget and go for the Dino as I don’t need a larger, more expensive version of my Spider:-)

@Kristoj – great points as always. I have driven a Dino and agree it would be the preferable car if for no other reason than the engine alone. However the price of a Dino cabriolet is probably twice what you could get these 504’s for. Repairs on the engine would likely be twice the price on the Dino as well.

Love these. Good article. Combining some of the best early 70’s French and Italian design. Good alternative to a Fiat Dino Spider. Much nicer than a Fiat Spider and I’ve owned 4 Fiat Spiders. Pininfarina created another winner here. I even like the 504 sedans.

@sunday driver : for information and to give an idea concerning the links mentioned : it seems that casy-place.nl and gt-spirit.fr both have actually a 504 convertible for sale, respectively for 20,000 and 19,900 euros. I think that the cars have the 4 cyl engine with manual transmissions (i read French but not Dutch..)

Pickings super slim in the US. As far as I know, there are no other V6 Cabriolets on this side of the pond — the only other V6, in Brooklyn, was flooded out in Hurricane Sandy. Otherwise, there are probably fewer than 10 4-cyl Cabriolets total in the US & Canada.

So the way to go if you’re serious is to look overseas. Kurt Orbie is worth talking to (casy-place.nl), also the aforementioned leboncoin.fr (again, caveat emptor), or mobile.de in Germany. There’s a classic car dealer near Lyon, GT Spirit (gt-spirit.fr), that usually has a few for sale. Finally, there’s a Peugeot dealer in the Netherlands named Joop Iriks who restores 504 Cabriolets, mostly V6’s, and sells them, generally in the neighborhood of about 30k Euros.

Just a tip, sent a link of a Belgian guy called Kurt Obie in my comment above, who is THE MAN to see when it comes to 504 CC’s . He always has cars for sale in a varying price range depending on condition and rarity. He knows these cars inside out, he breaks them and has nearly all parts available for them And shipping a car across the pond from the Belgian Antwerp port (which is more of a car port then e.g. Rotterdam is) would be no problem. And in Belgium there is an even more major car carrier port : Zeebrugge is home to almost any car carrying shipping company and I see many US livery cars and commercial vehicles there Zeebrugge would barely be a 2 hour drive from Obie’s place.

Sorry, just write me off to brain-fog, and forgot to use bifocals today? 504… to 604. My big blind leap??? Or maybe Italian designed convertibles executed by French manufactures just send me off into stupidity? Kind’a like French women in bikinis.

As the owner of a Fiat Spider (not Spyder), of course I love the Pininfarina lines. And I can’t help but wonder if the 504 might be a slightly more relaxed and comfortable driver than the 124. That said, if I were in the market for a 504 Cab, I would probably stretch my budget to find a Fiat Dino Spider for three simple reasons: 1) It’s Italian 2) it’s nearly as rare and would probably be a better long-term investment and 3) the music coming from the Dino V6 as opposed to PRV lump.

I’m going to take a step back on this motor???… My car was a 1979 with the 2.8 motor and a 3 barrel-carb, yep you read right, 3 barrel… and it was as fast or faster than friends’ Bimmers of the day.Easy tuning, and I couldn’t break it… and that’s saying something!

Yes, yes, yes… and if I were still a kid, my mother might very well find photos of this beauty hiding under my bed… LOL If one compares this to a Citron SM restoration cost and value…It stacks up well… I think! 604’s are great cars with fun V6 — a bit thirsty — and wonderful trans. and drive train… in short… bullet-proof… buy it! PS… I could tell durability stories about these cars that would make the hairs stand-up.

I’m the owner of the 504 V6 Cabriolet in Massachusetts, featured in the Autoweek article. It’s been more than a dozen years since I got the car, and I still love it.

Although rare in the US, these cars do have a very good support network in Europe, with a great car club in France (the Amicale 504), and clubs & suppliers in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland.

FYI, there are several V6’s and quite a few 4 cyl’s for sale right now in France. Note though on leboncoin.fr (the Craigslist of France), a scam ad recently appeared with pictures of my car from the Autoweek article, claiming the car is for sale in France — not true!!!!

I went back and looked at the pictures again. What a lovely car. The only thing that I could see to improve it’s looks is a blue interior, matching the top. The seats sure look a lot more comfortable than the ones in my TR6! Then, so do park benches.

I’ve only seen a few of these on the street, and not for many years. I imagine they were very expensive when new, and people with that kind of money to spend bought 450SLs (or Cadillacs.)

I’ve restored a perfectly good car who’s only crime was being 40 years old at the time and even with allot of the labor being mine, the car cost me $40 to bring it to “as new” condition.” So $49K for this car probably isn’t half of what’s in it. That being said, as I understand it those early PVR’s were pigs. The later “balanced shaft” versions were really smooth, however.

If you are buying this car you aren’t worried about maintenance cost differences between the L4 and the PVR V6.

This car, a lovely woman (your wife or mistress, either will do), a bottle of France’s best, some smelly cheese and you have the makings of a lovely day out.

My wife wants a 4 seat convertible down the road a piece and I showed her photos of a couple 504 convertibles upon which she said, “YES please”. While not in the market yet this is exactly what I’d but if possible. The L4 version works for us as well, since our purposes are Sunday’s drives, the occasional car show and a drive to work once in a while.

What a beautiful car! Good color, nice interior. Nice Nice Nice! One tiny let down though- what’s with the god-dam horrible modern stereo. Yuky speakers cut into the rear seat pans too. Knock 20,000 quid off the price and you might have a deal.

Calm down, Hansjorg. I meant it as a compliment, not a critique! (Maybe my intonation was off?) I’m saying that BaT knows their stuff, and that I learn a ton from the site every day, not that they have a “problem.”

I really, really like this very much. I have sticker shock, but I had sticker shock 20 years ago when I saw a Chapron convertible Citroën for sale for a fraction of what these are selling for now, so who knows? I am not in the market for this car, but to me there’s not much not to like here. Thanks for featuring this, BaT!

Wow. First we see a bargain basement price on its coupe brother, now the droptop. What a pair. This one’s pricey, but if it’s all the seller claims, it’s probably worth at least $30-34K. They’re rare, all right, especially in this spec. And darn handsome, as well. Like it a bunch, but trying to figure out a way to get my Franco-American paws on that coupe. My ancestors will be proud if I do.